What to know about Alex Jones' Texas court win and more than $1 billion in damages he still faces

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is still under orders to pay more than $1 billion over his false claims surrounding the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre despite a Texas court reducing some of the money awarded to families. For the bombastic Infowars founder, the ruling that saves him more than $40 million was still a legal victory amid multiple punishing financial judgments that forced him and his company, Free Speech Systems, to file for bankruptcy. Sandy Hook families have yet to collect any money from Jones, who has left his Infowars platform amid numerous ongoing legal battles but is still broadcasting on other websites.

He still faces a defamation judgment of $1.25 billion in a Connecticut lawsuit and the nearly $6 million that remains in the Texas case. What to know about Jones, Infowars and his legal cases: How Jones lawsuits got here Several relatives of the 20 first graders and six educators killed at Sandy Hook sued Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, in Connecticut and Texas for defamation and inflicting emotional distress for saying the shooting was staged by “crisis actors” to win more gun control. Victims’ relatives testified that followers of Jones subjected them to death and rape threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media.

Jones argued there was no proof that linked him to the others’ actions. He did concede under oath that the shooting did happen. The Connecticut case produced a judgment against Jones of more than $1.4 billion in damages, which was reduced by about $150 million during appeals.

In Texas, Jones was hit with nearly $50 million in damages. On Friday, a state appeals court threw out most of the Texas award because it vastly exceeded the state’s legal cap on punitive damages. The ruling reduced that portion from more than $40 million to $1.5 million, leaving about $6 million intact.

Only one judgment impacted The Texas court ruling did not throw out the finding of defamation against Jones. He still called it a major victory for free speech and vowed to continue his appeals. “I got lawyers who are good constitutional lawyers, and they are not backing down,” Jones said.

The Texas ruling has no impact on the bigger Connecticut case, where Jones was found liable for $1.25 billion. That judgment still stands, and Jones’ appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last year was denied.…